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If you love the comic art of Hayao Miyazaki, you'll be impressed by the simplicity of Kaori Mori's art for the historical drama of Emma. What's Emma about? Think PBS' Masterpiece Theatre, except in manga form. It's about a house maid in Edwardian England, the family she is employed by, and London of that time. This is no fan service maid story; this is a meticulously researched three volume set- so much so, the artist has even released a gazetter as a companion.

Ichigo Mashimaro is very... very cute. Like toothache-inducingly cute.

Not as humorous as Yotsuba to!, but funny all the same (note: they run in the same manga anthology). It's another one of those everyday life manga series with a bit of a twist. And did I mention it's so cute?

Don't know if it is known or unknown, but "Sky High" is not that bad. It has 2 volumes and is based on short stories about dead people who can choose after death. Mostly between heaven or revenge+hell. (Rated: 18+)

I'd also recommend Kiseiju or "Parasyte" by Hitoshi Iwaaki (released by Tokyo Pop in the US), it might be a little graphic in some places but its an excellent observation of the human condition and what it is that makes us what we are:

Ayako by Osamu Tezuka and MW by Osamu Tezuka. These have just been released in France. (Sorry if you don't speak French. But if you speak English or any romance language, its really easy to guess!) They are two serious manga by the god of manga that were written to reflect turbulent times. Ayako is about a girl locked in the basement for her whole childhood. MW is about a man who has gone crazy due to a mysterious chemical called "MW" and seeks to destroy the world with it.

Anatolia Story by Chie Shinohara (Red River according to Viz. I'm so glad they are releasing good classics!) Viz are making this sound like a Fushigi Yuugi clone, but its much darker, much better than Fushigi Yuugi. The main character is more like the 12 Kingdoms heroine than any Yuu Watase heroine. (In other words, she can kick ass.) A girl is transported to the ancient Hittite kingdom in the Middle East. (Present day Turkey I think, which means it isn't technically the Middle East but whatever, I'm just copying the Viz blurb.)

Story of Beijing Opera by Ueda Hiroshi. I just think the Chinese opera is so COOL! I love watching it on TV and wish I could see it in real life. This manga is formulaic and follows the "become XXX master!" format, but the subject is so interesting I don't mind.

They were 11! by Moto Hagio (in "Four Shojo Stories"). A shojo sci-fi mystery that is really gripping. Also brings up many questions about gender that I've never seen any other work do believably. I just bought the out of print Four Shojo Stories graphic novel by Viz, and its AMAZING. Its the first shojo manga ever released in America, and contains 4 very high quality, classic shojo stories. My second favorite story is The Changeling by Shio Sato. Asimov, mythology, philosophy, and anthropology fans will love it. The other two stories are short works by Keiko Nishi dealing with adultery and family problems.

There are some intriguing titles in this thread but seriously, half of the mangas mentioned here, I've already heard millions of times. Maison Ikkoku? Pretty Face? Megatokyo? These are great reads but also pretty well known.

Anyway, I want to add two new mangas to the list.

Addicted to Curry. Another cooking anime. It is unlike Yakikate! Japan though. It does have its competitions although not as frequent. Instead of wowing the customers with heavenly tasting food, cooking in this case serves as an anecdote to people's problems. I've only read two volumes but the story is getting more and more exciting every chapter.

Akane-chan Overdrive. I think I already made a thread on this manga. From the makers of Lilim Kiss and Ichigo 100%.

Ohhh, it's time to praise Devil & Devil.
Like uhh, 2 years back... group called Dual Translations were scanlating this project. They managed to finish this cool serie, 15 volumes or so in total. Every week we had our D&D fix and god, people were really anxious about it. Nowadays i hardly hear people talking about it so i must fix this unjustice. XP Its a typical shounen manga with comedy/action and some romance going on (some fanservice too...). So if you are into shounen mangas, move to http://www.dualtranslations.org who seem to have re-opened since i last visited there o.o;

Ohhh, it's time to praise Devil & Devil.
Like uhh, 2 years back... group called Dual Translations were scanlating this project. They managed to finish this cool serie, 15 volumes or so in total. Every week we had our D&D fix and god, people were really anxious about it. Nowadays i hardly hear people talking about it so i must fix this unjustice. XP Its a typical shounen manga with comedy/action and some romance going on (some fanservice too...). So if you are into shounen mangas, move to http://www.dualtranslations.org who seem to have re-opened since i last visited there o.o;

Omg thank you for the mention of this manga, I just started reading vol 1. And I cannot stop laughing with the cat and the eyeball. XD

I'd also recommend Kiseiju or "Parasyte" by Hitoshi Iwaaki (released by Tokyo Pop in the US), it might be a little graphic in some places but its an excellent observation of the human condition and what it is that makes us what we are:

I second the recommendation for Parasyte (Parasytic Beasts in Japan). The manga is complete (US 12 Volumes, Japan 10 Volumes) and there's an auction for the whole complete set on e-bay right now. (Darn I wish I'd had this offer when I bought it). The manga was initially put out by Mixx, and then by TokyoPop. It's probably the only TokyoPop title that has been flipped, which means that in Japan the Parasyte named "Lefty" is actually "Righty" -- read it, you'll see --, but there are no other changes in the script. Any purists who would let those two things keep them from this manga are really missing out.

The story (I'm through volume 9, waiting eagerly for the last three volumes to arrive) is clever, logical and well thought out, and wonderfully gripping and thought provoking. The only reason I haven't finished the story yet is because I don't have the last three volumes in my hands -- it's that compelling. I've walked out of the comic shop a few times and just sat in my car reading the whole volume before bothering to drive home. The story's pace picks up in the first volume and hasn't let up yet. The sense of danger in the story is real (people we care about die) as is a sense of surprise since you never know just what is going to happen next (like the end of volume 9 for example ).

Make no mistake, as the cover of the first volume makes clear -- this manga is very violent and gory. However, the violence is there as part of a dialogue about the very essence of humanity, and we get inside the heads of characters as they deal with horrors that are the stuff of nightmares.

Spoiler:

The way the main character deals with loss and intense pain and pressure is particularly well written.

Mamoru Nagano's Five Star Stories, a 11-volumes gigantic space-opera on a Dune scale, with a cast of hundred of characters (some of them demi-gods, artificial life-forms, psychics or sorcerers), beautiful mechas, dragons, and a complex story that covers more than 10,000 years of the local solar system history.

Shou Tajima's Brothers, a short (4 volumes) but very enjoyable series about 3 siblings (2 brothers and their sister) in high school. Somewhat along the lines of Kimagure Orange Road, minus the psychic powers.

Yaktiate - I know it has been mentioned many times but this series is just great one of my favroites

Houshin Engi - another one scanslated by SC, the anime name is Soul Hunter though it was horrible condensed and changed. This series is quite funny the main character is great. The story is good IMO, it is based on the 108 stars of destiny somewhat.

Blade of the Immortal - Hmm this is one of my favorites. Very cool main character IMo, the art is great especially those 'death scenes', the fights are great. This one is liscensed though by Dark Horse I belive.

Blade of the Immortal - Hmm this is one of my favorites. Very cool main character IMo, the art is great especially those 'death scenes', the fights are great. This one is liscensed though by Dark Horse I belive.

Blade of the Immortal is easily one of the best mangas out there. Seems like it's one of the most underrated mangas out there too, yet it has a decent underground following. Go read this manga now!